UC Irvine (1/3 scholarship) v. UT (sticker) for California Forum

[johnmilton]

The subject pretty much says it all, but I'm wondering what would be the better choice considering I want to work in California upon graduation. I'm from Cali and have relatively strong ties to both Northern and Southern California, if that helps.

[bk1]

No USC/UCLA/UCD/UCH?

[johnmilton]

No USC/UCLA/UCD/UCH?

Nope. Waitlisted at the first two and didn't apply to the others.

[bk1]

No USC/UCLA/UCD/UCH?

Unfortunately not on the first two and hell to the no on the last two.

You're saying you got rejected from the former and didn't apply to the latter?

I feel like UCI at that price and UT in general (especially at sticker) are iffy for CA. Davis/Hastings with a big scholarship, UCLA/USC with at least a small scholarship, or lower T14's (MVPDNC) at sticker are the ideal options. So I'd probably go with retake/reapply as the best thing to do (assuming you haven't maxed out your LSAT).

[tallboone]

UCI is a good deal. They are working their butts off to make sure everyone in the first few classes gets a decent job. UT is a better school, but not for So. Cal. And neither is good for N. Cal.

[johnmilton]

[quote /} You're saying you got rejected from the former and didn't apply to the latter?

I feel like UCI at that price and UT in general (especially at sticker) are iffy for CA. Davis/Hastings with a big scholarship, UCLA/USC with at least a small scholarship, or lower T14's (MVPDNC) at sticker are the ideal options. So I'd probably go with retake/reapply as the best thing to do (assuming you haven't maxed out your LSAT).[/quote]

I edited my first response to be more clear, but WL at UCLA/USC and didn't apply to others. Reapplying isn't an option for me.

[bk1]

I edited my first response to be more clear, but WL at UCLA/USC and didn't apply to others. Reapplying isn't an option for me.

Is someone holding a gun to your head?

It was foolish not to apply to Hastings/Davis btw.

[tallboone]

I edited my first response to be more clear, but WL at UCLA/USC and didn't apply to others. Reapplying isn't an option for me.

Is someone holding a gun to your head?

It was foolish not to apply to Hastings/Davis btw.

UCI>>Hastings>>>>>>>Davis for SoCal employment. For San Francisco, Hastings >>>>Davis. For Sacramento/other cow towns in the middle/northern part of the state, Davis is King (Hall)

[bk1]

UCI>>Hastings>>>>>>>Davis for SoCal employment. For San Francisco, Hastings >>>>Davis. For Sacramento/other cow towns in the middle/northern part of the state, Davis is King (Hall)

You are smoking a ton of crack.

[Redsgomarchingon]

UC Irvine has no reputation and no alumni base. There's already six Tier 1 California schools, and UC Irvine as an undergraduate institution is not ranked high, so there's no reason to believe their law school would even qualify as a Tier 1 anytime soon.

If these are your only choices, go to UT. Not to demean UC Irvine, but this is a very easy decision.

[bk1]

UCI is a good deal. They are working their butts off to make sure everyone in the first few classes gets a decent job. UT is a better school, but not for So. Cal. And neither is good for N. Cal.

UCI is working really hard, but I am not convinced that it is a good deal when it still costs around $130k-$145k in CoA (after the scholarship). I think UCI grads will get decent jobs, but I have serious doubts whether those jobs justify the price tag that this year's class is paying.

[tallboone]

UCI>>Hastings>>>>>>>Davis for SoCal employment. For San Francisco, Hastings >>>>Davis. For Sacramento/other cow towns in the middle/northern part of the state, Davis is King (Hall)

You are smoking a ton of crack.

Pretty comparable to the T-14 in terms of 1L Summer opportunities:
http://www.law.uci.edu/career_dev/past_placements.html

If Art. III judges are hiring UCI 1Ls for the summer, firms will be to. How are the Davis statistics?

[bk1]

Pretty comparable to the T-14 in terms of 1L Summer opportunities:
http://www.law.uci.edu/career_dev/past_placements.html

If Art. III judges are hiring UCI 1Ls for the summer, firms will be to. How are the Davis statistics?

What do you mean pretty comparable? That isn't a breakdown but more of a list of places that are employing 1L's which is nice but not that helpful as a comparison. Do you have some similar breakdown for T14 to make that judgment call?

I'm also skeptical that this will necessarily translate into the same employment at graduation. These judges/firms are basically getting free labor so it is hard to judge whether or not it will continue with 2L summer and postgrad employment. I really do believe that all UCI students will be gainfully employed in decent/good jobs and some even in great jobs. What I am not so sure if is that one can justify paying $120k to go to UCI when it is questionable how many are going to be in jobs that make that cost justifiable. 2/3 or full tuition scholarship I would say it is worth it, but with only 1/3 tuition I am a skeptical hippo.

[bk1]

UCI>>Hastings>>>>>>>Davis for SoCal employment. For San Francisco, Hastings >>>>Davis. For Sacramento/other cow towns in the middle/northern part of the state, Davis is King (Hall)

You are smoking a ton of crack.

Pretty comparable to the T-14 in terms of 1L Summer opportunities:
http://www.law.uci.edu/career_dev/past_placements.html

If Art. III judges are hiring UCI 1Ls for the summer, firms will be to. How are the Davis statistics?

Let's also not forgot just how ridiculous your "Hastings>>>>>>Davis for San Francisco" comment is.

[tallboone]

I stand by that statement. Nobody who does hiring at any firms in SF or So Cal thinks Davis is even in the same league as Hastings. Money being similar, people who pick Davis over Hastings when they want to work anywhere other than Sacramento are making a big mistake.

[johnmilton]

UCI>>Hastings>>>>>>>Davis for SoCal employment. For San Francisco, Hastings >>>>Davis. For Sacramento/other cow towns in the middle/northern part of the state, Davis is King (Hall)

You are smoking a ton of crack.

Pretty comparable to the T-14 in terms of 1L Summer opportunities:
http://www.law.uci.edu/career_dev/past_placements.html

If Art. III judges are hiring UCI 1Ls for the summer, firms will be to. How are the Davis statistics?

It's funny how quickly threads derail. Hastings/Davis have no place in this thread as they are not under consideration. I agree that Irvine has a brighter future than Hastings and Davis, but this is not the place to discuss other CA schools. I'm really only curious to hear people's opinions on which school is better for California between UT-Austin and Irvine. I know that neither is absolutely ideal, but, if the answer was easy, I wouldn't have made this thread.

[bk1]

I stand by that statement. Nobody who does hiring at any firms in SF or So Cal thinks Davis is even in the same league as Hastings. Money being similar, people who pick Davis over Hastings when they want to work anywhere other than Sacramento are making a big mistake.

--ImageRemoved--

[bk1]

It's funny how quickly threads derail. Hastings/Davis have no place in this thread as they are not under consideration. I agree that Irvine has a brighter future than Hastings and Davis, but this is not the place to discuss other CA schools. I'm really only curious to hear people's opinions on which school is better for California between UT-Austin and Irvine. I know that neither is absolutely ideal, but, if the answer was easy, I wouldn't have made this thread.

The answer is easy. Do you have any actual reasons why you can't retake/reapply and get USC/UCLA/T14 or Davis/Hastings were they to give you $$$?

[keg411]

UCI>>Hastings>>>>>>>Davis for SoCal employment. For San Francisco, Hastings >>>>Davis. For Sacramento/other cow towns in the middle/northern part of the state, Davis is King (Hall)

You are smoking a ton of crack.

Pretty comparable to the T-14 in terms of 1L Summer opportunities:
http://www.law.uci.edu/career_dev/past_placements.html

If Art. III judges are hiring UCI 1Ls for the summer, firms will be to. How are the Davis statistics?

People at my TT have Article III 1L judicial internships. 1L employment is indicative of absolutely nothing.

That said, since OP wants SoCal and didn't get into UCLA/USC/T13, then UCI is probably the best bet, even if this is the year it starts to get marginal (the clock is ticking on the "too big to fail" classes).

[Cade McNown]

UCI>>Hastings>>>>>>>Davis for SoCal employment. For San Francisco, Hastings >>>>Davis. For Sacramento/other cow towns in the middle/northern part of the state, Davis is King (Hall)

You are smoking a ton of crack.

Pretty comparable to the T-14 in terms of 1L Summer opportunities:
http://www.law.uci.edu/career_dev/past_placements.html

If Art. III judges are hiring UCI 1Ls for the summer, firms will be to. How are the Davis statistics?

People at my TT have Article III 1L judicial internships. 1L employment is indicative of absolutely nothing.

That said, since OP wants SoCal and didn't get into UCLA/USC/T13, then UCI is probably the best bet, even if this is the year it starts to get marginal (the clock is ticking on the "too big to fail" classes).

The whole point of going to school where you want to practice is to access the local connections established through a school's alumni base. UCI does not have that. You choose UT Austin and it isn't even close. UT can make it make to the West Coast: compare the % of their student body from the West to the % working West upon graduation and the numbers aren't that far apart. I doubt that many Texans at UT want California, so I assume that there's a lot of overlap between those two groups. This is really an easy decision.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

No USC/UCLA/UCD/UCH?

Unfortunately not on the first two and hell to the no on the last two.

You're saying you got rejected from the former and didn't apply to the latter?

I feel like UCI at that price and UT in general (especially at sticker) are iffy for CA. Davis/Hastings with a big scholarship, UCLA/USC with at least a small scholarship, or lower T14's (MVPDNC) at sticker are the ideal options. So I'd probably go with retake/reapply as the best thing to do (assuming you haven't maxed out your LSAT).

GULC at sticker for CA is hardly ideal. It's probably pretty comparable to UT.

Also:

http://www.law.uci.edu/career_dev/past_placements.html

If Art. III judges are hiring UCI 1Ls for the summer, firms will be to. How are the Davis statistics?

No...just no. Internships with judges are easier to get than 1L firm jobs, and using the former to gauge firm placement after graduation is a bit ridiculous.

[bk1]

GULC at sticker for CA is hardly ideal. It's probably pretty comparable to UT.

I used "lower T14" as a catchall and notice that I actually excluded GULC from the short list. I'd say GULC has an edge over UT for CA but not a very appreciable one.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

GULC at sticker for CA is hardly ideal. It's probably pretty comparable to UT.

I used "lower T14" as a catchall and notice that I actually excluded GULC from the short list. I'd say GULC has an edge over UT for CA but not a very appreciable one.

Oops, can't read. Brain automatically added G when I saw DNC. I think that UCLA with a small scholarship should trump lower T14 (DCNG), but that might be a pointless tangent.

[tallboone]

I still think UCI is far better than UT for SoCal. And my point about the jobs kids are taking 1L summer stands. UCI kids are having the same opportunities as students from UCLA and USC in the 1L job scene. I don't see (m)any kids from the Loyolas or the Southwesterns or Chapmans of SoCal with these kinds of jobs going to just about everyone in their class.

It is great to have a large alumni base. It is also great to have a school with a famous dean and hustling career services getting on the phone and making things happen for its students.

I have no dog in this fight. I turned down UCLA and I go to a T10. But there are 1Ls at my T10 who would probably take some of those jobs on that list over what they are doing this summer. (My job this summer is on that list, and I'm pretty happy about it).

[Boggs]

UC Irvine has no reputation and no alumni base. There's already six Tier 1 California schools, and UC Irvine as an undergraduate institution is not ranked high, so there's no reason to believe their law school would even qualify as a Tier 1 anytime soon.

If these are your only choices, go to UT. Not to demean UC Irvine, but this is a very easy decision.

Chemerinsky